Before you start salivating, pizza plate lunges aren’t quite as delicious as they sound. They are, however, an extremely demanding movement that challenges almost your entire body in one go, targeting not just your legs, but also your core, arms, back and shoulders.

‘I love movements that build a more physically formidable human,’ says strength coach Ben Bergeron, who shared the exercise on social media. ‘Pizza plate lunges ask a lot of your body at once.’

• Hold a weight plate across your forearms, like a waiter carrying a pizza tray, with your elbows bent at roughly 90 degrees. Keep the plate in this position throughout the exercise.
• Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart, your chest up and your core braced.
• Step forwards with one leg and lower under control until your back knee lightly touches the floor and your front thigh is roughly parallel with the ground.
• Drive through your front foot and bring your back foot forwards, flowing straight into the next lunge.
• Continue alternating legs, keeping your feet pointing forwards and your tempo controlled.

When it comes to efficiency, there aren’t many exercises that offer a better bang for your buck than the pizza plate lunge. As Bergeron points out, it delivers a significant full-body challenge.

‘Your quads and glutes drive you out of each step,’ he says. ‘Your hamstrings and adductors stabilise the hip and knee. Your abs and obliques brace to keep your torso from folding or rotating. Your spinal erectors keep you tall. Your shoulders, upper back, chest and arms work isometrically to keep the plate up and away from you.

‘And because you’re moving on one leg at a time, all of it has to happen while you balance, stabilise and control your body through space.’

Unlike a traditional walking lunge with dumbbells by your sides, holding the weight out in front shifts your centre of mass forwards. Your core and upper back have to work considerably harder to stop your torso collapsing or tipping forwards, making the exercise as much about stability as leg strength.

As Bergeron puts it, you’ll build:

‘Bigger, stronger legs. Stronger shoulders and arms. A thicker, stronger torso. More stability through the hips and knees. Harder to knock over. Better at carrying and controlling heavy, awkward things.

‘It’s not strength for the sake of a number. It’s building a body that looks strong, feels strong, and is genuinely useful.’